Project CRF 450 - Kibblewhite Stainless Steel Intake Valve and Spring Kit
Special thanks to Mike Perry of
Kibblewhite: Special thanks to "Ride Red" on Thumper Talk for
the photo:
Many CRF owners have experienced the dreaded intake valve issue. While it is not a problem that affects everyone, there are at least 300 cases that I have heard about. The problem it seems is the valves are slamming into the valve seats and basically trashing the valve itself and creating no valve clearance. Only the intake valves are affected, no one has had any problems out of their exhaust valves. There are many theories as to what causes this issue. Some think that the coating is burnt or worn off of the valve and causing a problem. Some might say you didn't maintenance your bike right or good enough. I, along with Mike Perry of Kibblewhite believe that the valve springs are wearing out and losing tension causing the valves to slap against the seats. The
titanium valves are soft and brittle, especially when compared to
the valve seats. It might have something to do with the alloy of
titanium that Honda used in the valves. It may be a bad batch of
valves from Honda. No one really knows.Yamaha has zero problems from their titanium valves. Many CRF
owners replaced the intake valves with stock ones only to have them
go bad in 15 hours or less! Something is really wrong here.
Regardless, Kibblewhite has the solution to your problem. They offer a set of replacement intake valves made from stainless steel. They also offer a replacement spring kit, which consists of four valve springs with shims and titanium retainers.
Wrong! The stainless valve kit performs equal to that of the stock components with the exception of durability, which is way beyond the stock parts. The valves don't start floating early and the bike doesn't rev slower. I have logged well over 300 hours on the valves. I must give credit where credit is due; Kibblewhites product is simply awesome. It basically boosted the valve components reliability to Honda XR proportions. In fact, I adjust the valves on my XR-650R more often than the CRF now. Since the installation of the Kibblewhite kit I have never had to adjust my valves, not even once. They have held the same clearance the entire 300 hours of hard acceleration, bumping off the rev-limiter, racing MX, and just plain abuse. I really tried to put this product through its paces. I rode the bike extremely hard, kind of the like the saying "ride it like you stole it". I must say
the CRF is a very reliable bike and the Kibblewhite kit adds to
that. I did things to my beloved CRF I wouldn't do to a stranger's
bike. The bike pulled through with no problems at all! I am
impressed. I took the bike apart when I felt it had been put
through enough rigorous testing. To my surprise after I cleaned out
some carbon I noticed the valves looked just as good as the day I
put them in.
If you have any problems with your CRF's valves, I recommend getting this kit. I give this product an enthusiastic "two-thumbs up". Way to go Kibblewhite! Keep up the good work.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Off-Road.com Newsletter Join our Weekly Newsletter to get the latest off-road news, reviews, events, and alerts! |
Follow @Off-Road
Buyers Guides
Visit Forums DIRTBIKE FORUMS
Copyright
VerticalScope Inc.
Your Privacy Choices